A popular reward scheme for schoolchildren has been accused of encouraging
gambling by allowing pupils to take part in a lottery for high-tech gadgets.

The Vivo Miles scheme has been reported to the Gambling Commission after allowing children to spend points earned for good behaviour on a raffle featuring expensive prizes such as iPads and Kindles.

Thousands of children are believed to have taken part in the lottery, which has now been dropped pending a review by the company behind the programme.

The National Association of Head Teachers said reward schemes were a “healthy part of school life” but insisted the use of a lottery sent out the “wrong message”.

One parent reported Vivo Miles to the Gambling Commission after becoming aware that her son had been allowed to take part.

A spokesman for the commission refused to be drawn on the case but added: “In general, the commission would take any complaint regarding children and gambling seriously, as one of the three licensing objectives is to protect children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

“We have powers to take regulatory action if we consider it necessary to achieve that objective.”

Schools pay to join the Vivo Miles programme, which allows children to bank points for good behaviour and decent grades. They can then use credits to collect prizes such as games and sports equipment.

But under the new initiative, pupils were allowed to spend points on a raffle in the hope of gaining more elaborate prizes.

Vivo Miles insisted the raffles were only open to pupils in the 500 secondary schools subscribing to the scheme, but admitted that two primaries had also “inadvertently” been included.

Adrian Burt, managing director, told the Times Educational Supplement it had trailed the raffles for three months after the plan was suggested by schools themselves.

He added: “The raffles are no longer active while we review feedback from all stakeholders.

“We work intensively with teachers and students to ensure that the options are age, gender [and] location-appropriate and motivational, all the time keeping within the very limited budgets of the schools.”